HOTSPOTS Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4285 To establish a pilot program through which the Institute of Museum and Library Services shall allocate funds to States for the provision of inter- net-connected devices to libraries. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 22, 2020 Mr. MANCHIN (for himself, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. CRAPO, and Mr. TESTER) intro- duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To establish a pilot program through which the Institute of Museum and Library Services shall allocate funds to States for the provision of internet-connected devices to libraries. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as ‘‘The Hotspots and Online 4 Technology and Services Procurement for our Tribes and 5 States Act’’ or the ‘‘HOTSPOTS Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Aug 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4285.IS S4285 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4285 IS SEC. 2. INTERNET HOTSPOT PILOT PROGRAM. 1 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act, the terms ‘‘library’’, 2 ‘‘State’’, and ‘‘State library administrative agency’’ have 3 the meanings given those terms in section 213 of the Mu- 4 seum and Library Services Act (20 U.S.C. 9122). 5 (b) PILOT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 6 (1) GRANTS TO STATES AND INDIAN TRIBES.— 7 Not later than 21 days after the date of enactment 8 of this Act, the Director of the Institute of Museum 9 and Library Services shall establish a 2-year pilot 10 program, through which the Director shall— 11 (A) reserve 2.5 percent of the amounts ap- 12 propriated to carry out this section to make 13 grants to Indian Tribes and to organizations 14 that primarily serve and represent Native Ha- 15 waiians (as the term is defined in section 6207 16 of the Native Hawaiian Education Act) to en- 17 able such tribes and organizations to carry out 18 the activities described in subsection (c); and 19 (B) allocate grant funds to States in ac- 20 cordance with paragraph (2) to enable States, 21 through the State library administrative agency, 22 as appropriate, to carry out the activities de- 23 scribed in subsection (c). 24 (2) ALLOTMENTS TO STATES.— 25 (A) MINIMUM ALLOTMENTS.— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Aug 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4285.IS S4285 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4285 IS (i) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of 1 this subsection, the minimum allotment for 2 each State shall be $1,600,000, except that 3 the minimum allotment shall be $160,000 4 in the case of the United States Virgin Is- 5 lands, Guam, American Samoa, the Com- 6 monwealth of the Northern Mariana Is- 7 lands, the Republic of the Marshall Is- 8 lands, the Federated States of Micronesia, 9 and the Republic of Palau. 10 (ii) RATABLE REDUCTION.—Notwith- 11 standing clause (i), if the sum appro- 12 priated to carry out this section is insuffi- 13 cient to fully satisfy the requirement of 14 clause (i), each of the minimum allotments 15 under such clause shall be reduced ratably. 16 (B) REMAINDER.— 17 (i) IN GENERAL.—From the remain- 18 der of any sums not reserved or allotted 19 under subparagraph (A), the Director shall 20 award grants to each State in an amount 21 that bears the same relation to such re- 22 mainder as the population of the State 23 bears to the population of all States. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Aug 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4285.IS S4285 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4285 IS (ii) DATA.—The population of each 1 State and of all the States shall be deter- 2 mined by the Director on the basis of the 3 most recent data available from the Bu- 4 reau of the Census. 5 (3) GRANTS FOR INDIAN TRIBES.—An Indian 6 tribe that is eligible for support under section 261 7 of the Library Services and Technology Act (20 8 U.S.C. 9161) may designate a tribal library or tribal 9 library consortium as a library or consortium that is 10 eligible for grant funds under this section, without 11 regard to whether the library or library consortium 12 is eligible for assistance from a State Library Ad- 13 ministrative Agency under the Library Services and 14 Technology Act (20 U.S.C. 9121 et seq.), if the li- 15 brary or library consortium is eligible for support 16 from an Indian tribe under such section 261. 17 (c) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.—Each State, Indian 18 Tribe, or other entity receiving a grant, contract, or coop- 19 erative agreement under this section shall use funding 20 under this section to— 21 (1) expand digital network access by purchasing 22 and distributing internet-connected devices, such as 23 hotspots, to libraries in low-income and rural areas 24 so that those libraries can allow individuals to bor- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Aug 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4285.IS S4285 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4285 IS row internet-connected devices for home use and in- 1 stall or upgrade public wi-fi access points for use on 2 or near library grounds; 3 (2) provide libraries with funds to pay the other 4 expenses associated with such devices and services, 5 such as processing, training, associated connectivity, 6 hardware and support, and other necessary expenses 7 related to the retention of these devices and provi- 8 sion of these services; and 9 (3) encourage existing and new partnerships be- 10 tween State and local governments, libraries, non- 11 profit entities, agencies including the Federal Com- 12 munications Commission, and telecommunication, 13 broadband, and internet service providers to coordi- 14 nate the distribution of hotspots and other internet- 15 connected devices and services. 16 (d) GRANTS, CONTRACTS, OR COOPERATIVE AGREE- 17 MENTS.—From amounts appropriated to carry out this 18 section, $1,000,000 shall be made available for the Direc- 19 tor of the Institute of Museum and Library Services for 20 grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements with Federal 21 agencies, public and private organizations, and other enti- 22 ties determined to be eligible by the Director to enable 23 those agencies, organizations, and entities to carry out the 24 activities described in subsection (c). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Aug 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4285.IS S4285 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4285 IS (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 1 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 2 $160,000,000. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Aug 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4285.IS S4285 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS